Apples was a stage show written by Dury with music co-written by Blockheads member Mick Gallagher on the request of Max Stafford-Clark.

It was not made by the "Apple Blossom Orchestra" that played on the stage shows (they were formed after the album's completion) though some players on the record were part of that band.

In addition to the show's leading lady Frances Ruffelle who sang vocals on "Looking for Harry", "Game On", and the humorous duet "Love Is All", Dury's long-time friend and former Stiff Records artist Wreckless Eric also appeared to perform nearly all of the vocals for "PC Honey"', a song reportedly inspired by a policewoman who came backstage after an argument between Dury and his then girlfriend while touring with the Music Students to promote 4,000 Weeks' Holiday, his previous album five years earlier.

Dury would later write a song about him, "The Ballad of the Sulphate Strangler", which would eventually be included on the posthumous Ten More Turnips From The Tip album.

It is common for reviewers to unfavourably compare an artist's new work to their old, and this was the case with Apples with critics pointing out the songs were not as good as Dury's 'old stuff'.

Ironically, two of the tracks, "Apples" and "England's Glory", were written over 13 years earlier while Dury was still in Kilburn and the High Roads.